M3_Power

I think it's reasonably priced? A brand new csl steering wheel with all the trims ect is over $2000

SOLD

Any reason for using the 8115? Wouldn't have been my choice as it's a panel bonding adhesive and not structural or impact resistant unlike the 7333 or 57333 used in a lot of dissimilar metal bonding application. I can't remember how heat resistant it is either ... might be something to consider given how close it is to the exhaust?

Very cool project. Love to see these in the hands of enthusiasts more and more. I actually nearly bought this, except for the fact I couldn't work out a fair trade value with the seller with my trade in. Didn't actually see this in person at all before it was sold. Very good purchase and love the project. I must add, and many who have spoken to me in person on a personal level will know this, that I am not a fan of the plate method "fix" for the rear floor, expoxy or weld. To me it does not fix the problem, it simply transfers the load to the next weak spot in the chassis - inner wheel well and further up the stream. Once these fail your car is basically harder to fix or beyond economical repair. The fact that the official epoxy properly applied showed that it stopped further failure proves what I have been saying for many years about this issue. Sorry Ray, but I do opinion differently about this issue than you. I do agree however if there are cracks already beyond the 25mm limit set by BMW then a plating repair is a must short of a floor replacement. keep up the good work!! Love where this is heading

Here is what I wrote on another forum The solution isn't that important to be honest. Here in this instance I used a generic sneaker foam cleaner that you can buy from most shoe stores - these work great at lifting dirt. I've also tried dedicated alcantara cleaners to a self made warm soapy water solution (with real soap flakes) and they all work the same to be honest and give much the same results. It's actually what you use to apply the solution and how you wipe off the dirt that matters and dictate what sort of results you get. I have found tooth brush to be too harsh on the Alcantara ... remember Alcantara is just polyester based fibers, so it is actually quite resilient if you use the right tools to clean it. Treat it like a piece of fabric. The way I do it is to really soak the fabric before I lift the dirt from it. If you rub it dry it will pile. Use a tooth brush and it will pile. Rub in a circular motion it will pile. Do so in straight lines in both directions and it won't pile or knot. The best results I get is actually to use baby wipes ... dried out ones to be exact, and then wet it in the solution you want to apply. Blot onto steering wheel quite a few times till it is reasonably wet, and use another to wipe and rub and take as much dirt as you can out of the Alcantara - Yes I said "rub" .. the baby wipes will pile up before the alcantara will and when it does change it. The key here is to change it as often as you can. In this steering wheel it took me about 10 minutes and about 15 baby wipes to get it to that state. Quite a quick process actually. This method of course doesn't work on all the steering wheels. You have to look at the condition of the fabric. If it's is already piled this method will lift the dirty but you will need to shave the excess piling afterwards to get it looking good again. When Alcantara fibers starts to unravel it's a bit of s slippery slope but with a bit of patience and a good shaver you can get it looking pretty new again. Hope this helps : )

Given the scarcity and expense of genuine MSS54HP DMEs, I have been doing a few of these HP DME conversions for others recently. Good to see more and more joining the CSL revolution : P

This is another iPhone 6 plus 128gb I have which was just replaced by Apple Care so it is brand new never used. The previous near new one has sold. black screen grey back. Includes original box, charger, never used headphone. $800

Had an hour to spare over the weekend for a change so decided to do this. Drives like the real thing and sounds even better as I didn't bother to wire up the noise flap controller instead using an aftermarket piece and adjusting the map to account for it.

I am sure he needs no introduction. RIP http://www.motor1.com/news/128783/obituary-paul-rosche/

Swap the control arms left to right and see if it translate into the similar numbers but reversed. If so then one of the arm is bent. Normal for these cars to sit left side higher. They are engineered that way.

I agree second hand powder coated but never used air balance rail so I didn't have a say in the colour lol! Couldn't be bothered removing the powder coating as it'd have been quite the mission!

This is not going to be a full on blog just minor updates and notes every once in a while on this new project car! So since acquiring the car I have been pondering what I wanted to do with it. My original plan was to create a full CSL replica right down to the finest details in every aspect (why buy one for $148,000 when you can make a replica for cheaper??!! Lol) - I might still do this but with some minor twists. I might even turn it into a full fledge racecar ... I Keep changing my mind about it everyday lol! This however should not stop me from tinkering!!! I have always maintained that the CSL power is 95% software and 5% airbox with the associated noise being 95% airbox and 5% placebo lol!! So in order to test my theory out I decided to CSL the engine management of the car with genuine sensors and CSL dme and software. All wiring done via crimping and no soldering as per BMW wiring repair instructions or in this case additions to the main factory harness with correct bmw wiring salvaged from a loom I had. I like originality so I used everything factory where I could, right down to the Oetiker clamps : ) MAP sensor So how does it drive without the airbox???!!! Mind blowing is all I can say. I have proven my hypothesis above. Might try out the exposed trumpet next .... hmmm decisions ...

So my recent acquisition came with a fairly grubby alcantara steering wheel. I was originally thinking about just selling it, but knowing that I have successfully cleaned quite a few of these I decided to give this one a go again. Not the worst one I have come across. condition before clean - this corner was the clean side lol! decided to do the top half first to show the difference post cleaning first stage contrast top (cleaned) and bottom (original state)

Read my post. Trust me the driver airbag is also being recalled. BMWNZ has been replacing the passenger airbag for over a year now as part of the global recall so hopefully they are up to the last of the lot by now (imports included). I am not doing BMWNZ any dis-service, simply stating what I know on a personal front. Word is they will only replace the driver airbag if the car was sold NZ new but at this time no plans for imports. Whether this will change I have not been told. I know a lot of people on a personal level at BMWNZ so i get various inside information every now and then. I asked about the driver airbag for the E46 as I knew this was being recalled, so I am simply relaying this info for the public to know a bit earlier. You do not have to believe me.

Just want to update everyone about this. Passenger airbags should already have been done or at least should already have a notice about it. Driver airbags I have it on good authority that if you own a NZ new car, it's happening soon and you should be contacted. However if you own an import ... you are apparently sh*t out of luck as BMWNZ isn't recalling these vehicles I am told.

We often get negative threads and not enough praising threads for good hard working businesses out there so I thought these two deserve a post from me. Some will have known that I've been looking at a M3 down in Christchurch. Not knowing anyone there or the ability to hop on a plane and view the car personally I decided to enlist the help of Jeff Grey BMW in Chch. I gave Kent the service manager a long list of things I wanted personally checked out from the car plus their usual PPI. They were most obliging and perhaps the most professional and easy going people I have ever dealt with. Arrangements were made with Niki at Chch European - very accommodating and easy to deal with great prompt communications (all emails or txt). They dropped the car off and let it sit overnight. checked PPI, spoke with Kent over the phone about few things, negotiated a bit with Niki, signed the papers, they gave it a good clean up, WOF and booked freight. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Kent and his team at Jeff Grey or Chch European if you are in the market. Now the fun begins : ) ps I don't mind the colour and it's the mechanical side of things that matter to me with my intention for this : ) Post would not be completely without a self serving photo

traded it in ...

LOL Post March 2005 production cars all got them. The cats whilst may have different part numbers between csl and post 3/2005 production ones are in fact actually identical in every way right down to the weight. The way to tell is to see if it has a welded bracket for the pipes or a figure 8 clamp. If it has a figure 8 clamp it is CSL with the thinner wall pipe (hence the reason for the figure 8 clamp) And yes I have had both side by side and on a scale to confirm they are exactly the same.

June 2005 production ... definitely one of the last ones. That'll have CSL headers and Cats - bonus!

Appreciate the responses. Have a shop checking the car out for me now. Thread closed

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PM'd

Anyone here from Christchurch with reasonably good knowledge of E46 M3s able to take a quick look at a car for me at Christchurch European? If so please PM me : )

Need this gone so I can buy a project car! Make me an offer

Been a while since I've posted to this thread ... thought it was about time to do an update on what I've been doing. Have had the first most complete CSL conversion in the country I believe for an E46 M3. I won't reveal who the owner is, but here's a short video of the Karbonius carbon airbox in action. The car has a full CSL converted MSS54HP DME together with H Bridge driver for the snorkel flap. I have personally driven this car briefly and I can confirm it drives and feels 99.5% like a real CSL. Given how expensive CSLs have become to acquire, personally I think building a replica is now both cheaper and easier to do!!! Video I've also been a little bit obsessed with the BMW touch screen GT1 machines of late. More so because I've always liked these Dinosaurs and have always thought these were quite cool for its time. But mostly because these have now become so rare but are still quite a powerful and useful system and it seems no one in the world has actually documented these very well or tried to repair them. Came an opportunity one day to pick up 5 of these for pocket change and a bunch of diagnostic heads (7 to be precise) ... I knew the touch screens were all broken on all but one machine (turns out this touch screen was faulty also) and none were functioning as far as the seller was aware. Decided why not give it a go at repairing them. Today I have 4 functioning machines with brand new touch screens and 7 working diagnostic heads. What these look like taken apart Touch Screen replacement I have also gotten to know the Yellow diagnostic heads quite well now and can now repair these to an extent ... have successfully repaired no less than 4 of these (2 genuine units) and one for Ray@Hellbm. I will document repair procedures for these Diagnostic heads when I get sometime as these things are no longer produced or cloned by Chinese vendors, it seems a crying shame to see these systems disappear.